Gnome in the night

Another transparency I made. This one is partly copied from one on pinterest. I can't link back to it though because it's no longer there. Anyway these are pretty easy to make. I just drew the picture on white paper and then used a paper knife to cut then out over the black card stock. Then I used scissors to cut out kite paper that I layered on the back with stick glue. So this idea came from someone else's but switched the little boy to a gnome.

pounded flowers

Just a quick picture of the flowers K and I pounded out.  We placed flowers in-between sheets of paper and used hammers to pound the color out.  It was quite fun and they turned out pretty neat.  

Thanksgiving count down

Ok I know its really early for this but K and I have already started working on our Thanksgiving count down.  We first water colored many sheets of paper with yellow, red, and orange.  I then cut out 28 maple leaves.  I've spent that last few days coming up with random acts of kindness that we could do together.  It sure is hard to think of that many little acts that a three year old can do. :)
My plan is then to laminate them (so we can use them for years to come), punch holes in them, and hang them from a branch in the living room.  We will then take one down each day to do and place it at the bottom of the tree.  It will be our thanks count down to Thanksgiving.

Window Stars and stained glass

I pulled out the supplies to make a Valentine window star and K made this really pretty stained glass. He was so pleased with the results.

Suncatchers

A fun winter activity.

I found this fun project at this website: http://belladia.typepad.com/bella_dia/2007/12/advent-day-4-th.html

K made the star. The hole punch was hard for him to use so he needed a lot of help. I think this will be a good craft to repeat next year. Plus they look beautiful in our kitchen window.

Snowy Windowstar

So it hasn't really started snowing here yet, but K has been begging to make a snowflake window star. While I worked on it, K made these great little pink stars using tiny scissors and glue.

Dad's Birthday

My dad's birthday was this past week. We had him over for dinner and cake. I made my first two layered cake. I was never much of a baker until recently. This is mostly because I found the best book where everything is baked using whole grains. Everything I have made has turned out amazing. For my dad's birthday I made lemon poppy seed cake with blueberry jam.

I also made him a window star. What do you make for the guy who has everything? I've been itching to make more window stars. Perhaps I should make some fall colored ones for the upcoming season.

Star lantern

K and I spent the morning of the 4th painting and creating this star lantern. We got the pattern from Childhood Magic: http://childhoodmagic.blogspot.com/

She made the tutorial really easy to follow. Thanks!

Rainbow Swap items

We received a boat, snack bag (which K has been carrying around the house), a bookmark, a crown (modeled above), and a window star.
While we were away we received our rainbow swap items. They are wonderful! K's favorite by far is the crown. I'm really surprized by this as he usually won't put anything on his head, but he keeps bringing it to me to put on him.

Earth Day

I'm a couple of days behind here but this is what we did on earth day. I got the idea from the blog:http://childhoodmagic.blogspot.com/

She has such great ideas! On Earth Day we also walked into town to buy some organic raspberries from our local natural store. Overall it was a great day. Especially since K finally took a nap after a week nap strike and it was 3 and half hours!

The Mail has arrived!

K's postcards arrived in the mail and he is loving them. He was running around the house yelling, "mail mail mail!" Each week K will receive 4-5 postcards in the mail from all different kids and he will send 4-5 out to other kids. The kids in the swap range from 15months - 8years old. I think I'm going to set up a little mailbox in the house where he can keep them and play with them.

Postcard exchange

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K joined a postcard exchange with a bunch of kids in the area. Each week K will make 4 or 5 postcards to send out to a group of children and then he will receive the same amount in the mail a few days later. All the kids are making their own cards. There are so many kids signed up that it will be 6 weeks before we send cards to everyone!
So here are K's first batch of cards. He colored with marker, put stickers on them, glued sequins, and puffy painted. His favorite part though was dropping them in the mail. :)

St. Patty Window Star

You'd think I was Irish. I'm not but, its a fun little holiday none the less. I have added a bright green window star to our nature table. It turned out way bigger then I thought!
Its been snowing all week here and for some reason my mind has moved to spring. Not that I'm not enjoying winter. I'm actually loving the snow. It's K that isn't fond of it. He can't stand snow touching his shoes. This poses quite a problem for outdoor play.
I'm off to watch the snow and think of spring gnomes.

Half Done Projects

Here is some of what I've been up to. Nothing is totally done yet, but coming along. I have 11 of 12 cherries bottoms done (although I might make two more so K can keep a set himself). I have the aprons cut out. I love the print, however, I realized as I was taking this picture that I accidentally cut half of the aprons out upside down. Opps! Luckily I have plenty of material to remake them. Finally K and I water colored in masking tape. I got the idea from Frugal Family Fun Blog. they do some pretty fun art projects. Anyway its not done yet because we have to wait for it to dry to peal the tape back off.
Hopefully I'll be back soon with some pictures of finished projects.

Candlemas

Up until two weeks ago or so I had never heard of Candlemas. Then I started reading about it on different blogs and such and was intrigued. It seems that the holiday was originally a Pagan holiday to celebrate the half way point from winter to spring. It is supposed to represent new beginnings. Many people celebrate by eating foods that represent the sun coming back, making candles, and making resolutions about new beginnings. It was also adapted by the Christian faith as the final day of Christmas. The day to finally take down decorations (see that's why your decorations are still up. :).
So I thought the holiday sounded fun and decided we should celebrate this year. We ate Acorn Squash, chick peas, and mangos (sun colored/shaped). After dinner we made paper lanterns by water coloring card stock, cutting out shapes, and glueing tissue paper over the holes. K had a great time not only water coloring, but he also really like picking out tissue paper colors to cover his holes. So the first lantern is mine, then K's, then C's, and then K's grandmother's (Grammy) who joined us for dinner.
Finally the holiday ended with us holding a moment of silence and sending light and warmth to a friend and her new baby who need the hope of new beginnings.

Blue Window Star

I've made my second window star. The going was much easier this time. It still has the wrong glue on it, but I think this one turned out pretty good. I also worked on a whole new gnome today but am only half way done. It's going to be a butterfly/caterpillar gnome. I'll hopefully get to post it sometime this weekend. We are pretty booked this weekend though seeing family and friends so we'll see.
Also... I really need to find a better window to take these pictures. I just don't have a good window facing in the right direction.

Window Star

the book, "Magic Window Stars as a guide.
I've made my first window star! I've realized I need new glue, but other then that it turned out fantastic! Now I just have to find a way to hang it in a window. hummm. Any ideas? I used kite paper and a little glue. I've never used kite paper for anything before and I have to say I like it. I'm excited to try a few more stars. :)